:00:00. > :00:08.Good evening. Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has
:00:09. > :00:13.been arrested by police in connection with the 1972 abduction
:00:14. > :00:15.and murder of Jean McConville. Mr Adams presented himself for
:00:16. > :00:23.questioning at Antrim police station this evening by prior arrangement.
:00:24. > :00:35.What do we know about events this evening? We believe at around 9pm,
:00:36. > :00:41.as news was faltering through to us, detectives investigating the
:00:42. > :00:45.abduction and murder of Jean McConville had arrested a
:00:46. > :00:50.65-year-old man, we now know he is Gerry Adams. Both the police and
:00:51. > :00:57.Sinn Fein are at pains to say that he presented himself voluntarily,
:00:58. > :01:04.and he is being questioned behind me at the serious crime suite. He has
:01:05. > :01:07.consistently denied any involvement in her disappearance, she was the
:01:08. > :01:14.mother of ten who was at the tiered from her flat in West Belfast, and
:01:15. > :01:17.her body was recovered from a beach in 2003. Gerry Adams had asked his
:01:18. > :01:28.solicitor to make contact with the police? That is right. Only last
:01:29. > :01:31.month, he had asked his solicitor to contact the police to see if they
:01:32. > :01:37.wanted to interview him about the murder of Jean McConville, and the
:01:38. > :01:40.abduction of Jean McConville. He said he was aware that there was
:01:41. > :01:45.speculation that they may want to speak to him, so he wanted to go to
:01:46. > :01:49.them voluntarily. He has always said her murder was a terrible injustice
:01:50. > :01:57.in which he had played no part. Before we came on air, he spoke to
:01:58. > :02:05.RTE before he was arrested. There has been a lengthy, malicious
:02:06. > :02:11.campaign against me. I will tell them I am innocent of any part in
:02:12. > :02:18.the Addaction, killing all burial of Jean McConville. I do have concerns
:02:19. > :02:22.about the timing, I said I was ready to meet with them, I do have
:02:23. > :02:27.concerns in the middle of an election about the timing.
:02:28. > :02:35.A developing story. To recap, Gerry Adams, the 65-year-old, has been
:02:36. > :02:38.arrested and is being questioned about the disappearance and
:02:39. > :02:44.abduction and murder of Jean McConville. We will bring you more
:02:45. > :02:47.on the radio station and online. The Alliance MP Naomi Long has
:02:48. > :02:50.insisted her party will not be driven out of east Belfast and will
:02:51. > :02:52.not be bullied or intimidated. Four people threw seven petrol bombs at
:02:53. > :03:06.her constituency office last night. Back at work first thing this
:03:07. > :03:10.morning, Naomi Long says the latest attack on her office will not make a
:03:11. > :03:16.move. She has lost count of the number of threats she has faced
:03:17. > :03:21.since the Buckfast City Council moved to stop flying the union flag
:03:22. > :03:26.every day. But she says she and her party are staying here. I will not
:03:27. > :03:30.be driven out and bullied, because I have stood up to bullies my whole
:03:31. > :03:38.life. The attack happened just before 11pm. We have some
:03:39. > :03:42.eyewitnesses who have come forward. We are also looking at CCTV and a
:03:43. > :03:47.full forensic examination of the scene has been taking place. The
:03:48. > :03:51.CCTV footage only lasts a couple of minutes but it could hold the key to
:03:52. > :03:55.this investigation. It shows the attackers in the middle of the road,
:03:56. > :03:58.first throwing stones at the upstairs windows, where they break
:03:59. > :04:04.the glass, they produce petrol bombs. The upstairs windows are
:04:05. > :04:09.double glazed, and the petrol bombs could not break through the second
:04:10. > :04:12.pane of glass. In the end, it seems that is what saved the office.
:04:13. > :04:18.Otherwise, it probably would have burned down.
:04:19. > :04:21.A Romanian man has had excrement thrown in his face in what the
:04:22. > :04:24.police are describing as a hate crime. He was cycling along the
:04:25. > :04:28.Lower Newtownards Road this morning when a man threw the bag of
:04:29. > :04:31.excrement at him. He was taken to hospital, where he received
:04:32. > :04:33.treatment to his eyes. Police are treating the incident as a hate
:04:34. > :04:36.crime. It happened outside a church, and
:04:37. > :04:43.the rector says the attack is worrying for other foreign nationals
:04:44. > :04:50.in the area. I do not think there is any need for
:04:51. > :04:55.violence at any time. Perhaps the effect on the gentleman might be
:04:56. > :05:01.traumatic, if they disturbed him for some years to come. For other
:05:02. > :05:07.immigrants, that is bound to be a problem in the back of their mind
:05:08. > :05:10.and unsettle them. We have quite a few immigrants in this area.
:05:11. > :05:12.Assembly members are calling for more information from the health
:05:13. > :05:14.authorities about cases involving children with heart problems.
:05:15. > :05:17.Members of the Stormont Health Committee claim they're not
:05:18. > :05:20.receiving the full picture about the extent of treatment some children
:05:21. > :05:25.have received in Belfast before being transferred to Dublin for
:05:26. > :05:26.heart surgery. The Health Board has rejected any allegations that it has
:05:27. > :05:44.not been transparent. This child was born with a heart
:05:45. > :05:48.defect in January last year. He was rushed from column in hospital to
:05:49. > :05:57.Belfast by ambulance for what the family was told was emergency
:05:58. > :06:00.treatment. There was a need for an operation to be done before he
:06:01. > :06:04.travelled. Without that, his oxygen would have got quite low. He either
:06:05. > :06:10.would have been brain-damaged or would not have survived. The health
:06:11. > :06:14.committee today questioned whether briefings they have received have
:06:15. > :06:19.provided the full picture of the extent of surgical procedures being
:06:20. > :06:22.performed in Belfast. We were given the impression that there was little
:06:23. > :06:29.need for emergency intervention, there had been none in the last
:06:30. > :06:35.month prior to the meeting, but we have learned from the families
:06:36. > :06:37.involved that there has been a number of surgical interventions
:06:38. > :06:41.that have been essential to save the lives of children. The health board
:06:42. > :06:42.has rejected allegations that its officials were not being
:06:43. > :06:59.transparent. The board said this was consistent
:07:00. > :07:04.with the evidence gave to the health committee last year. The BBC can
:07:05. > :07:08.also reveal that the Department of paediatrics cardiology in Belfast
:07:09. > :07:11.boat to the health board last year stressing the importance of
:07:12. > :07:17.retaining surgery in Belfast. The letter detailed one case. It said it
:07:18. > :07:22.crystallised how any decision regarding the future of paediatric
:07:23. > :07:27.cardiac services in Belfast could impact on individual patients.
:07:28. > :07:31.Doctor Craig said the minister decided to cease cardiac surgery,
:07:32. > :07:36.transferring a sick child in an unstable condition to another unit
:07:37. > :07:41.would see surgeons in his words faced with a deteriorating situation
:07:42. > :07:43.and a hazardous intervention. The future of children's heart services
:07:44. > :07:48.will become clearer when the independent panel has entered its
:07:49. > :07:50.findings to the health minister. He is then expected to make his
:07:51. > :07:53.decision public at the start of July.
:07:54. > :07:57.Now looking ahead to tomorrow night's BBC Newsline. In the second
:07:58. > :08:00.part of our series looking at how the film industry here is
:08:01. > :08:03.transforming our economy, our arts correspondent will be talking to
:08:04. > :08:04.tourists following in the footsteps of the hugely-successful Game Of
:08:05. > :08:24.Thrones TV series. There is some rain in the forecast
:08:25. > :08:29.the night, that makes a change for April, because it has been quite a
:08:30. > :08:34.dry month. Our gardens get a drink, and some of the rain could be heavy
:08:35. > :08:39.across the West and South. A mild night, but tomorrow will not feel
:08:40. > :08:46.mild at all. For part of the North, it will feel colder after today. To
:08:47. > :08:49.begin with, it is cloudy and wet, some rain could be heavy through the
:08:50. > :08:56.rush-hour. There will be a cold breeze in places. As we zoom out and
:08:57. > :08:59.see the bigger picture across written and Ireland, it is
:09:00. > :09:03.disappointing for the 1st of May, very little sunshine to be found
:09:04. > :09:11.tomorrow. The north-east of Scotland brightening up later, but feeling
:09:12. > :09:14.cold. The temperatures are also struggling across Northern Ireland
:09:15. > :09:17.and parts of northern England. Further south, the rain will be
:09:18. > :09:22.heavy across Wales and the southern encounters of England. That is why
:09:23. > :09:28.there is a yellow weather warning in force. For us tomorrow afternoon,
:09:29. > :09:31.plenty of cloud, feeling cold and Chile in the breeze, though the rain
:09:32. > :09:39.will ease, so many places will become dry. The temperatures are
:09:40. > :09:46.several degrees down on today. Inks will start to warm up again. Friday
:09:47. > :09:49.will be dry and pride. The temperatures are back into double
:09:50. > :09:50.figures, and continuing to rise through the weekend.
:09:51. > :09:56.That's it for now. You can keep up to date with News Online and follow
:09:57. > :09:57.this programme on Facebook and Twitter. From BBC Newsline,
:09:58. > :10:00.goodnight.